What's happening in HA7 and the wider community

Ashton says council tax low despite Labour

The leader of Harrow council has called for the Conservatives to be recognised for keeping council tax to be kept at a low rate.

Conservative councillor, David Ashton, who announced last month that he was standing down before the next election, was one of the signatories to a letter in today’s Daily Telegraph.

The letter, from more than 30 council leaders across the country, slammed Labour ministers for “crowing about how they have helped keep council tax down this year”. The writers went on to blame Labour ‘red tape’ for what they called ‘unprecedented council tax increases since 1997’. They said:

“Readers should be aware that we have managed to keep taxes low in our authorities despite the efforts of John Denham and his department”.

They went on to attribute the low increase in council tax to ‘high-tax Labour councils failing at the ballot box’ and argued:

“Conservative authorities have been committed, as always, to efficient and low-cost public services”.

Harrow East’s Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Bob Blackman, was also a signatory to the letter.